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When we mention the Arctic, most people shrink up their noses and say, "Isn't it cold and barren up there?"   It can be cold in the summeró we will not deny tható, but the Arctic is not as barren as many people think.   There is a small, but unique and ecologically specialized community of organisms well-adapted for Arctic life.   The examples below are far from complete, but they give you an idea of Arctic biota. 

Many people ask if we saw any polar bears.   We are in bear country, but we have not seen any bears, which is more of a good thing than bad.   Seals are the bears' primary summer food source.   In the summer, with most of the sea ice out of the fiords, the seals go south (e.g. Lancaster Sound), and the bears follow them, leaving us with little worry of a bear encounter.
 
 

Many nooks and crannies on the tundra are filled with small flowering plants, like Purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) shown here.
Arctic poppy are also common to the tundra.
We stopped at Eureka Weather Station en route to the Blackwelder Mountains, and as we stepped off the plane there, we were greeted by this inquisitive jeager, an Arctic bird of prey.
Perry caribou are a rare and endangered species endemic to the High Canadian Arctic.   One particular evening at Dragon Creek, we spied these two males feeding not far from camp.   They are hard to see, but they are the two greyish-white dots just right of center.